Future Salon: Hard Science Details

Guess I did the cardinal error of web publishing/editing, using the back button going from preview to edit. Consequence was, that the Hard Science details were missing in my previous post (I have added them today). Just in case someone has missed that. Here they are again this time even with some links.

Hard Science part or Extreme Physics as Mike calls them, which with the current fascination of everything extreme should really peak your interest.

Here are some suggested readings if you want to prepare for next Fridays talk:

The following is Mike Korns outline: Extreme Physics: The Theory of Everything (Part One)With two speakers he will not have the time to go through everything. This is why it is called part one. He will be back in September with more about the implications of the research findings on our everyday life.

Confession: I am not a theoretical physicist
The Theory of Everything (TOE) has relevance for everyday people like you and me.
The TOE has evolved into a Theory of Quantum-Gravity.
We will study the current contending theories from a human viewpoint, without math.
The current three TOE’s: Superstrings, M Theory, and Loop Quantum Gravity.
How far are we?
- We do not yet have a Theory of Everything; but, we know a lot more about what we don’t know than we didn’t know before.

As we mature, old mysteries are solved.
(Before 11,000BC): why is game plentiful in one place and not in another?
(11,000-600BC): are the star cycles and the crop cycles related?
(600BC-1700AD): are the heavens and earth governed by the same fundamental laws?
(1700AD-1900AD): are the non-organic and organic governed by the same laws?

As we mature, new mysteries arise.
Can the essence of a human be kept outside of the physical body?
Why is it impossible to travel faster than the speed of light?
What is Heisenberg uncertainty, and how does it work.
Why does the Two-Slit experiment work like that?
How does entanglement work and why?
How are particles created, from nothing, in empty space, and why?
Why does starting from the same point, in space and time, yield different outcomes?
Is this the only universe, or are there parallel universes?
What happens inside a black hole?
What happened before the big bang?

Relativity
Space and time are intertwined.
Space-time is a malleable fabric distorted by gravity.
Each frame of reference, in space time, is equally valid: there is no preferred place-time.
Constant acceleration is indistinguishable from constant gravitational pull.
The speed of light is a universal speed limit.
As objects move faster they compress in size.
As objects move faster time slows down for them.

The Standard Model
All physical phenomena can be explained with 17 fundamental particles.
Physical forces can be explained with the fundamental particles.
All particles behave like probabilistic waves and particles simultaneously.
Every event in space time has a range of future possible outcomes.
Even large objects, such as atoms and molecules, can exhibit quantum behavior.

Superstring Theory & M Theory
Whereas theoretical physicists try to create a TOE to fit the data.
Modeling elementary particles as tiny vibrating strings solves many problems.
The math only works if there are 11 dimensions.
The other seven dimensions are rolled up into very tiny balls.
Strings cannot be compressed beyond a certain discrete size.
Singularities in the Standard Model disappear.
Strings can only vibrate a certain discrete frequencies.
The fundamental rate of change (time) becomes discrete.
Oops: there is more than one Superstring theory that fits the data??
Proposes that all five Superstring theories are really part of a larger theory.

Loop Quantum Gravity
Whereas theoretical physicists try to merge quantum & relativity axiomatically.
There is no preferred space-time reference frame at the quantum level.
Space, time, and gravity are discrete and therefore quantized.
Space is modeled upon a malleable spin network.
Space-time is modeled upon a malleable spin foam.
Singularities in the Standard Model disappear, and the math is quite elegant.
All physical phenomena can be explained as relationships between edges and nodes.
Physical phenomena can change the relationships between edges and nodes.
The configuration of the spin foam evolves over time.
LQT might be verified when the Planck satellite begins operation in 2006.

Epilogue: The Future of the Human as Finite Information
All current theories of everything require that space and time be discrete.
Quantum theory is NOT a Newtonian entity model; it is an information theoretic model.
The Standard Model currently identifies 17 fundamental particles.
Even if there are thousands more, a discrete universe is still finite.
A discrete universe would contain large scale repeating patterns: (multiple you’s).
In a quantum universe, time travel would allow you to do it all over again – differently.
In a discrete quantum universe, the inside of a black hole is a new beginning.
In a discrete quantum universe, the essence of any human is a finite information packet.